Keaton is watching me warily, his brows curled inward.
“It’s like you haven’t seen food in a week, Blainey. What the fuck?”
I haven’t.I shiver.
Then, I lie. “Just a day.”
He raises his blue eyes to Caleb and jerks his chin. “Make sure this little shit eats.”
I laugh condescendingly, falling back into the seat with a huff. “You couldn’t help yourself, could you? My big, protective brother.” I reach out and pinch his clean-shaven cheeks, shaking his head from either side.
He smirks, and though it’s subtle, I catch it, before he’s pulling my hand away and dropping it in my lap. Keaton leans over and snatches a piece of pepperoni from one of the boxes to his right.
“You’re my priority, always will be,” he says casually, licking the grease off his fingers.
I know, and I wish I listened to your warning, the very one that still stutters like a broken record in the back of my head.
“I need you to watch your back, get a lift home from now on with someone you trust. Just don’t ever leave here alone.”
I wish I had believed that it rang some truth. I wish he never gave me a reason not to believe him. I wish I could tell him what happened to me. I wish I could tell him that this moment, right here, is sacred,that the air in my lungs is a gift.
“What are your plans now that you’re in LA?” Caleb asks. I’m kind of grateful for the diversion, the unknown pull out of my lifelong trauma.
I turn, resting my chin on my shoulder while he wipes over his plump lips with a napkin. Caleb is watching me closely as I shuffle, pulling my knees to my chest. Harlen used to say that I closed in on myself, and he wasn’t wrong. I’m protecting my annihilated heart, choking on the demons inside, all alone.
I swallow tightly. “If you’re asking me when I’ll be out of your hair, then no more than a week.”
He shakes his head, his dark curls dancing with the movement,the way his did.
“No, that’s not–” Caleb starts to say, readjusting his black t-shirt as he sits up, but I cut him off.
“I’m sorry.” I wipe my hands down my leggings, then continue, “I told Keats I could’ve just stayed in a hotel until I worked out my next move.”
Caleb is still shaking his head. “No, no way. You’re always welcome here.” He takes a sip from the water bottle in his lap, the plastic crinkling loudly in his hand. “It’ll be nice to have some company anyway.”
A comment like that would usually send my brother spiraling, only he is completely unfazed.
He trusts him.
And it’s the only confirmation I need to know that I can trust him too.
Am I stupid? Probably.
But I have no one, only them. And we all know I cling to people,always have.
When will I learn my lesson?
Keaton’s phone buzzes off the table in front of us. It’s face down, and he quickly snatches it up before pushing off the couch and walking inside.
I watch him disappear, and when I turn around to cast my gaze back to Caleb, he jerks his chin toward the last slice of pizza. “You want that one?”
I nod eagerly, and he smiles, passing it over to me before grabbing the boxes and piling them on top of each other.
“I’m a bar manager at one of the clubs down the street, and I have a shift in an hour. You’re more than welcome to come with me, meet some of my friends, and have a drink if you want?”
I can hear Keaton finishing up his call inside, and I struggle to listen to him and Caleb at the same time. “Sorry, what did you–”
I’m cut off when Keaton interrupts, hiking me right off the couch. I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly, closing my eyes and accepting what comes next,that he is about to leave me. My feet kiss the ground when he says, “I’ve gotta make a move. You gonna be alright here?”
